Monday, September 29, 2008

Music! Music! Music!

.

Every night when every-body has funHere am I set-tin' all on my ownIt won't be long yeah yeah...

That's my seven year old daughter singing those classic lines from It Won't Be Long off of the Meet the Beatles album.She can pretty much sing most of the Beatles tunes, as well as Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple, Rock and Roll Waltz by Kaye Starr, Some Folks written in the mid-19th century by Stephen Foster, the latest hits by Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers. And she loves the theme songs to Petticoat Junction,Green Acres, and The Suite Life of Zac and Cody.And that's not all: there's the soundtrack to the play "Wicked," Eh Compari by Julius LaRosa, and...well, you get the picture.My 12 year old son loves classic rock: Feel Like Makin' Love by Bad Company, Stranglehold by Ted Nugent, Dream On by Aerosmith, and even I Am the Walrus by the Beatles and The Sunset and Twilight Time by the Moody Blues. Lately, his constant fave raves (as we called them back in the 70's) include See Emily Play by Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin's Dazed and Confused and Kashmir.My next oldest boy, aged 17, loves the Punk Scene of the 1970's and 80's as well as the current punk sounds of Green Day. He also loves Blink 182 and Avril Lavigne. He has ventured to the early rock of the '50's - Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent, and Chuck Berry. For a while, he collected original recording of the WWI era (How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm, and It's A Long Way To Tipperary). Lately I've caught him listening to the big band sounds of Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and Louis Jordan.And now, just within the past week he's been asking me about country music and has favored Patty Loveless' Mountain Soul cd.My eldest (age 20) listens to the Stray Cats, Dean Martin, contemporary classical and jazz guitarists, Beatles - all of my kids listen to the Beatles - Adam and the Ants, and Renaissance madrigals.Being heavily into music myself (I worked in a record store for 19 years!), I am very proud of the variety of music my kids listen to. Yeah, it's mainly in the rock category, but there is such a diverse mixture of sounds that one never knows what they might hear when they come to my house!But, I have to say the biggest kick I get is when my kids - especially my youngest - sing along to my absolute favorite group, The Beatles. Hearing my little girl sing every word to Little Child, I Feel Fine, I Want To Hold Your Hand, or even I'll Get You - songs I used to sing over 40 years ago - just makes me smile. And, yeah, we duet together as we walk to school - we do a great Tell me why hy-hy-hy you cried,and why you lie-hi-hied to me...!

No comments:

About Me

My wife and I and members of our family practice living history and portray citizens during the era of the American Revolution (1770s) and Civil War (1860s). You'll find us very often at mid-18th or 19th century reenactments doing our best to replicate the eras as accurately as we can in clothing, manners, speech, and other ways in order to bring the past to life.
I believe knowledge has to be the top priority in living history; knowing about the time period you are presenting - absolutely knowing - can make all the difference in how serious you are being taken.
Too many focus solely on clothing...but what I am attempting in this Passion for the Past blog is to help living historians and general history fans to look beyond the obvious - to study life as once lived.
Yes, clothing is important, but it only tells a small part of the story. To give a more complete picture one needs to look at the 18th or 19th century world around them - to put themselves in that world - and then they will be able to develop more fully a presentation of greater interest for not only the general public, but for themselves as well.
I hope you like it.